This document represents the inputs provided by the authors in order to participate in the construction
of the "focused political document" for the Rio+20 outcomes. As part of the effort to construct and
achieve the Rio+20 goals, the authors' points of view are comprised of contributions from members of
the following major groups: the Scientific and Technological Community, and NGO's Concerning the
Sectoral Priority of Coastal Zones.

Coastal zones are the most productive regions in the world, both biologically and economically, but
they are also the most populated. They face a harsh future due to greater challenges stemming from
hunger, wars, and health related issues threatening populations and countries' economies. These
challenges constitute the core of this document. Will nations work together to save these zones that
buffer our world? They must be included in the next ten-year agenda before it is too late.

Following the recommendations provided by the "co-chairs' guidance note," this document has been
redacted in the form of focused inputs. The Material the authors submitted was coded, synthesized, and
condensed to create this document. While this document communicates the most significant concerns
of the authors as a group, it is not a consensus document. This document enables us: (i) to establish
our inputs to the Compilation Document by November 1st, (ii) to propose adapted Material to the
Rio+20 delegations from various governments through each country's correspondent, and (iii) to
publish an extended reference document concerning the sectoral priority of Coastal Zones from the
perspective of 21st Century Challenges.

115 authors from the working group "Coastal Zones: 21st Century Challenges" actively
participated in the creation of this "Inputs for Compilation Document." They are from 30
countries, and the following Institutions, Universities, Research Centers, and NGO's:

20 years have passed since the Rio Earth Summit in 1992.20 years of efforts to better understand,
inform, and improve the relationships between our societies and our planet's coastal zones.These
efforts have crystallized into tangible outcomes in the form of improvements in environmental culture
and international agreements upheld by over 100 national and transnational coastal zone plans,
protocols, and conventions.

While moving forward with these national and international efforts, we realize that the balance
between development and stewardship is still broken, and many more efforts are needed to create a
harmonious relationship between the use of knowledge in society and our planet's coastal zones.
Through the active participation of 115 researchers from 30 countries, the following baseline
document has been constructed to highlight the perspectives of academia regarding gCoastal Zones:
21st Century Challenges-h Please consider it our input for the RIO+20 compilation document.

(i) Input For Compilation Document

The majority of our planet's population is concentrated in coastal zones, narrow spaces that amplify
the most urgent and emerging questions of sustainability and development. In coastal zones, we
clearly see the fragility of the three elements that constitute sustainability: world population growth,
economic tenuity, and the increase of environmental degradation. Coastal zones are key in illustrating

(a) the challenges our societies face and (b) the potential solutions, priorities, and views regarding the
implementation of practices and policies that build upon previous successes. These two points
structure the document.

(a) The Challenges That Our Societies Face

Any initiative to truly help society progress sustainably must integrate the limits of the planet and be
co-constructed with the affected communities. The consensus is that the challenges we face in coastal
zones are mostly anthropogenic or amplified by human activities that clearly transgress ethical limits-
Due to human development on the shoreline and in river basins, along with off-shore industrial nonsustainable
activities, our challenges are:

Red Flag Challenges Impacting Lives of Coastal Zone Residents:

- Malnutrition, hunger, freshwater availability

- Wars and other violent conflicts

- Lack of education

- Climate change and its consequences

- Exploitation of marine living resources

- Toxins in fish and shellfish, and pathogens such as cholera and hepatitis, are threats to
human health

- Population growth

- Global economic crises

Challenges in Policy:

- Harmonize the interests of coastal environment users, including local community
members, coastal municipalities, regional and/or inter-municipal planning, national,
transnational, and international stakeholders, through the continuous improvement of
economic-legislative instruments and the elaboration and implementation of
coordinated strategies for the use of natural, social, cultural, and institutional resources

- Rethink economic growth and the flows of energy and materials

- Preserve 100% of the areas where the indigenous peoples of the coasts remain,
including the Saami, Chukchi, Siberian Yupiaq and many others

- Develop innovative techniques for the restoration of ecosystem functions

- Evaluate the success of the integrated costal management political processes and
practices on a local to global basis

- Identify and quantify the human-induced stressors acting on coastal ecosystems and
populations

(b) Potential Solutions, Priorities, and Views Regarding the Implementation of
Practices and Policies that Build Upon Successes

Economy and Development Models:

- The model of development based on infinite economic growth needs to be questioned:

To what degree do activities on coastal areas facilitate general development and what
manner of development is currently needed?
Can development be based on sustainability and how can the socio-economic
structure respond to international competitiveness?

- A trade-off between the economy and the environment exists; destructive industries
have to be challenged and held accountable for their social and environmental
consequences

- G20 announced the preparation of a charter on gsustainable economics,h we must
make explicit how such a charter should be implemented from a global governance
perspective

Governance, Global/Local Articulation:

- The efforts cannot only come from local governments and communities; the
challenges are global in nature

- UN Ocean should be supplemented by other trans-governmental and nongovernmental
networks as additional forms of governance

- Intergovernmental Panel on Maritime Basins (IPMB) should contribute to
providing governance systems with common and reliable information and promote
coherent responses from these systems

- Build strong connections between transboundary maritime basins related to large
marine ecosystems and maritime regions of the world

- Apply a deliberative approach that concertates on managing emerging challenges and
linking all spatial and temporal scales

Collaborative Policy Making:

- The instruments for the implementation of integrated coastal zone management are: an
integrated approach to coastal land and marine spatial planning, cross-sectoral and
multiregional agreements, public participation, effective cross-border consultation
system, monitoring and assessment of socio-economical and ecological changes and
trends, comprehensive analysis of sustainable development indicators, financial and
legal mechanisms for ICZM implementation, and connected and collaborative
decision-making between all administrative levels from global to local

- Move from the theoretical framework into realizing the necessary actions

- Improve the articulation between ICZM and adaptation measures

- Integrate local and traditional knowledge with policy making

- Learn from international experience and practices in integrated coastal management,
and adjust lessons to other contexts

- Evaluate the success of the integrated coastal management political processes and
practices on a global basis

- Participation of coastal communities is vital, not only to vindicate the legitimacy of
strategies, but also to provide them with the opportunity to express their doubts, to
rebuild their trust, to learn how to live in a changing environment, and to manage
social conflict

- Create respectful partnerships with traditional societies on Earth, as they can provide
crucial observations and knowledge regarding emerging challenges

- Make decisions that are compatible with the core values of affected coastal
communities and coast-dependent peoples

- Make good practices mandatory for stakeholders; hold elected politicians accountable
for their promises

- Coordinate states and various sectors

Information, Education, and Awareness:

- Improve the competence of and resources for local and regional coastal zone
authorities

- Knowledge must be shared, promoted, and used in order to a) aid society in
developing a critical approach, b) exercise pressure on policy makers, and c) develop
realistic, sustainable, and feasible policies

- Promote public awareness of the socio-ecological values of the coastal resources and
ecosystems

Research:

- Encourage the scientific development of new sustainable, useful technologies

- Improve treatment plant performance

- Increase general use of new biodegradable materials

- Long-term studies that identify past and present evolutionary trends of the coast

- Intelligent and sustainable use of marine resources to enable the development of new,
sustainable medical and pharmaceutical products

- Develop and establish integrated monitoring networks and coherent forecasting
systems that provide coastal managers and policymakers with critical coastal state
indicators in order to ensure the safety of coastal communities while assuring the
preservation of natural coastal dynamics

- Bring together competence and synergy to develop an ecological sustainable
aquaculture in order to protect the biodiversity and environment in the ocean, as well
as provide a safe and sustainable source for human food

A general comment to conclude our document is this: the challenges we face in coastal zones
are mostly anthropogenic or amplified by human activities that clearly transgress reasonable
limits- We insist on the fact that any initiative to truly help society progress sustainably must
integrate the limits of the planet and be co-constructed with the affected communities.

Reminder

This document represents the inputs provided by the authors in order to participate in the
construction of the gfocused political documenth for the Rio+20 outcomes- As part of the
effort to construct and achieve the Rio+20 goals, the authors' points of view are comprised of
contributions from members of the following major groups: the Scientific and Technological
Community, and NGO's Concerning the Sectoral Priority of Coastal Zones.

Following the recommendations provided by the gco-chairs' guidance note,h this document
has been redacted in the form of focused inputs- The Material the authors submitted was
coded, synthesized, and condensed to create this document- While this document
communicates the most significant concerns of the authors as a group, it is not a consensus
document- This document enables us: (i) to establish our inputs to the Compilation Document
by November 1st, (ii) to propose adapted Material to the Rio+20 delegations from various
governments through each country's correspondent, and (iii) to publish an extended reference
document concerning the sectoral priority of Coastal Zones from the perspective of 21st
Century Challenges.